In 2014, Derrick Coleman and the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl

(the national championship game for the National Football League). Coleman is hard of hearing and legally Deaf. “On a scale of 0–10, normal people range from about a seven, eight, or nine,” Coleman said. “Without my hearing aids, I’m about a one or two” (Bresnahan, 2015).

Coleman, who lost his hearing at an early age, quickly distinguished himself as having a high level of ability for the game of football. He does not remember hearing because he became Deaf at the age of three. Nonetheless, he had a passion for playing football and quickly developed and demonstrated his expertise. Coleman played football in middle school, high school, and college, where he played at the University of California, Los Angeles

(UCLA). He went on to become a professional football player, first joining the Minnesota Vikings and then the Seattle Seahawks (biography.com, 2016).

In spite of his loss of hearing, Coleman and his fellow team members, primarily the quarterback, follow a quick and simple procedure on the football field which allows the Seahawks’ fullback to successfully execute plays. Coleman is able to hear with the assistance of his hearing aids, and he is also able to read lips (Friend, 2014). On the field, when Russell Wilson, the team’s quarterback, calls a play, Coleman requests that Wilson look at him so he can both hear and/or read the quarterback’s lips (Friend, 2014). This quick eye contact allows Coleman to play the game expertly and seamlessly.

Coleman is the third Deaf professional football player to join the National Football League. The first Deaf player in the National Football League was Bonnie Sloan, who joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973. The second Deaf player was Kenny Walker, who joined the Denver Broncos in 1991. However, Derrick Coleman is the first legally Deaf player to win a Super Bowl championship

(Friend, 2014).

Coleman is an inspiration to many people, demonstrating that individuals with a disability in one aspect have many abilities and can achieve the highest levels of success within their profession. Coleman has been tremendously successful but says the path was not always easy. For example, at school he was teased and called “Four Ears” because he wore a hearing aid.

To help children who are dealing with disabilities (Bresnahan, 2015), Coleman started the No Excuse Foundation. This is a nonprofit organization which provides financial and educational support for children, teenagers, and adults who are hearing impaired. The organization advocates on behalf of the hearing impaired and creates awareness among the hearing through education in order to reduce instances of bullying of hearing impaired individuals.

The vision of the organization is to have a world in which people are accepting of individuals with hearing impairments (http://derricklcoleman.

com/?p=26).

Discussion Questions:

1. We have just considered an example of the Seattle Seahawks successfully integrating its team’s diversity on the basis of hearing ability and going on to win a Super Bowl. How open do you believe professional sports teams are to hiring persons with disabilities?

2. Is there any evidence that having someone with a disability on the team has in any way diminished the team’s ability to play the sport well?

3. What things can professional sports teams and other organizations do to be more welcoming of people with a disability who demonstrate high levels of ability to perform the job?